Vice president makes surprise appearance at Redwood City school

By Diana Samuels

Daily News Staff Writer

Posted:
10/19/2010 09:36:12 PM PDT

Updated:
10/20/2010 08:44:46 AM PDT

On Tuesday afternoon, the third-graders in an after-school program at Taft School in Redwood City weren't sure who the vice president of the United States was. However, by the time they went home they could say they had met him.

Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., visited the school before heading to a fundraiser in San Francisco for Boxer's re-election bid. The school district knew that Boxer was coming but Biden's visit was a surprise, even to the superintendent.

"I was so proud of our children here at Taft," said Redwood City Superintendent Jan Christensen. "It's just an amazing experience for our children to have."

Sixteen third-graders from the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula's "Center for a New Generation" after-school program at Taft participated in the carefully choreographed event -- reporters weren't permitted to ask questions.

Boxer's staff had told the organization they wanted to see an after-school site funded by federal grants from the "21st Century Community Learning Centers Program," which the senator has been involved in, said Lara Fox, director of school site programs for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula. Boxer's staff suggested Taft as a potential site, Fox said. The school's program receives roughly $112,000 annually in 21st Century funds.

"(Taft) is as good as an after-school site gets, in my opinion, so it was a great one to show off," Fox said.

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Biden's visit Tuesday was his third to California in the past four months to drum up support for Boxer. He stumped for her in Southern California earlier this month and attended a fundraiser for her in Atherton in July. President Barack Obama is also expected to appear at a Southern California fundraiser for Boxer on Friday.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Friday showed Boxer's lead over Republican contender Carly Fiorina among registered voters likely to vote was one point -- 46 percent to 45 percent. Boxer had a four-point advantage earlier this month. The Ipsos survey polled 448 registered voters from Oct. 12-14 who said they would vote on Nov. 2. The poll's margin of error was 4.6 points.

Boxer arrived at Taft ahead of Biden. She introduced herself and asked the students if they knew what she did.

"You work with the president," one said.

She told the students she liked after-school programs, and asked if they knew why.

"So you will learn more and you won't stay in your house bored," one boy said.

Boxer dropped hints that Biden would be visiting, asking the students if they knew the vice president's name and mentioning his work.

"Boys and girls, I have a surprise for you," she said as the vice president walked in the door.

Biden spent roughly 20 minutes with the students, asking them their age, what sports they played and what they wanted to do for a living. He also fielded questions about the president; students asked him how old the president is and whether Biden had met Michelle Obama.

"What is Barack Obama's last name?" one boy asked.

"Obama!" Biden said, to laughs.

He also told them he stuttered as a child and struggled with reading.

"I tell you, you guys are so much smarter than I was," Biden said. "I could barely speak one language when I was in third grade."

After Biden's limo left, children excitedly told their parents they had met the vice president.

"What did he say to you?" Ruby Fenroy asked her 8-year-old daughter Deja.